Shabby public libraries need lottery boost, say MPs

Thursday 10 March 2005 04.48 EST
First published on Thursday 10 March 2005 04.48 EST

National lottery funding should be introduced to tackle the "scandal" of Britain's shabby and neglected public library services, according to a report yesterday which says that well-stocked, attractive shelves, rather than IT terminals, are the bedrock of its future.

The report by the Commons select committee on culture, media and sport indicts 50% of library services as "persistently below standard" after decades of underfunding - an explanation for steadily falling book loans and visitor numbers over the past 15 years.

The committee cites estimates that between a quarter and more than two-thirds of a billion pounds would be needed to wipe out the backlog of building repairs and refurbishments. "This is manifestly a problem, and with such vast ... estimates the solution cannot be simple," it adds.

It urges the government to give libraries access to lottery money. This could be managed by the agency in charge of the sector, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA).

"Whether the buildings in question are [examples] of architectural splendour or of more humble design, the library building stock needs to be safeguarded - and refurbishment should have been planned, and provisions made, by its custodians before now," the committee report says.

The culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, is urged by the committee to commit action and resources. The initiative should be handled by a partnership between central government and the councils which directly run the libraries, it says. This could draw on funding agreements with developers.

The lottery proposal was welcomed last night by the MLA's chairman, Mark Wood, who said: "On the high street, shops and restaurants remodel themselves every three years to stay in tune with changing consumer trends. Some public libraries have had little more than a lick of paint in the last 30 years. The state of many library buildings is a key factor in deterring potential users."

The committee, headed by the former Labour minister Gerald Kaufman, said: "We are in no doubt that, while libraries are about more than books (and newspapers and journals), these traditional materials must be the bedrock upon which the library services rest, no matter how the institution is refreshed or rebranded.

"The explosion of relevant new technologies has to be embraced by institutions but this should be done in the context of their key functions to gather, order, present and disseminate."

Tim Coates, the former executive with the Waterstone's bookshop chain whose criticism helped to spark the committee inquiry, described the report as "a lifeline for a service in distress - I believe it should be taken up quickly and firmly".